"I’ll Do It Later. I Have Plenty of Time"

This is a wonderful rationalizing and self-defeating phrase used by many of us but much more frequently by those professionals who struggle with traits of ADD. Folks who struggle with organizing their work and schedules, prioritizing, focusing their efforts, staying on task, completing tasks on time, completing tasks at any time, following through with commitments and feeling competent in their endeavors.

Too often” later” gets here way before it is expected and the project, assignment; task is late or never completed. These are well intentioned people who will tell me that they often overestimate the time they have available to complete something and underestimate the time it will take to get the job done.

Contact Jim today to learn how coaching can benefit your career and your life.

Many of my coaching clients fall into the “I have plenty of time” or “I do my best work when the pressure is on” mind-trap. My customary response is how much later and at what cost? 

 Along the road to “later” we suffer through days of increased worry, anxiety, anticipation and fitful or reduced sleep as “later” approaches ever closer and still we remain frozen in our inactivity.

There is typically an adrenalin rush during those last hours as we are faced with a sense of urgency and dread. We rally to the cause, too often working for hours under intense stress to complete our task on time. While we may feel successful with our outcome, we are unaware of the price we have paid with our overtaxed emotions and physical well-being.

I encourage the professionals I work with to stop overpaying their emotional pipers:

• Build and maintain a system of accountability that allows you to begin working on priorities earlier in the process.
• Identify unpleasant aspects about the project that leads you to delay or avoid it.
• Identify aspects of the project that you embrace or enjoy. Make it fun wherever possible.
• Be realistic when setting expectations of time needed to work on the project and time available to do the work.
• Be aware and honest about your patterns of work and look for ways to build in new habits.
• Break the task into smaller parts.
• Schedule a time to focus on an initial part of the project and set a time or date for completion. Completing parts of the task on time will allow you to build a sense of mastery and the confidence to keep going.
• Maintain accountability to your project and timeframe you have set. Tell someone what you are working on, how you are working on it and when you intend to finish. Keep them in the loop as you move forward or if you fall behind. 

Most of all be honest with yourself. Can you really afford to do it later? Do you really have plenty of time? Really?

Contact Jim today to learn how coaching can benefit your career and your life.